Flutist from the Metropolitan Opera to perform Friday

HUNTSVILLE, AL. - Compared to most budding 20-somethings, Denis Bouriakov has a rather prestigious resume.

He is the principal flautist at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, has won numerous prizes at international competitions and even released his first solo CD in 2009. But, the ambitious 29-year-old Russian musician isn’t finished.

“I am hoping to do more solo recitals internationally,” Bouriakov said, “and one day I want to start my own summer school. One of my future projects is starting a chamber music group, a trio with a cello and piano.”

“Denis (Bouriakov) is the new principal flautist at the New York City Metropolitan Opera and has recently taken the flute world by storm with his amazing sound, technique and musicianship, all at such a young age,” said Wilson Luquire, director of the Huntsville Chamber Music Guild. “He’s been frequently compared to the legendary (Sir James) Galway and Rapal, which are two of the world’s all-time great flute players.”

At age 5, Bouriakov began studying music and at 10 he was a regular concert player. He performed with an organization called “New Names,” which organized concerts for promising young musicians worldwide.

“It was organized on quite a high level,” Bouriakov said. “We have performed for the Pope at the Vatican and for presidents of some countries.”

His musical training stems from the Moscow Central Special Music School in Russia. Bouriakov later attended London’s Royal Academy of Music for his undergraduate and post-graduate work. The young musician cited his professor, William Bennett, in London at the Royal Academy of Music to be one of his most pivotal influences as an orchestra musician.

“He is my great hero and a huge influence in my playing,” he said.

“I think he has a very unique tone quality and like someone in Japan once said about him, it feels like he is talking with the instrument and telling you a story.

“It’s not just telling a story, but telling a story with great detail and lots of color.”

Bouriakov has performed in Kobe, Japan, with Finland’s Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra in 2005 Finland and won an audition in Barcelona before settling in the U.S.

“At the moment I am finding myself being influenced by the great singers and conductors at work,” he said. “I think I am very lucky to hear them every week.”